The 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates considered

We are less than 1 year from the California Democratic Primary (March 3, 2020). It's been moved up in the primary schedule so it will be more relevant, and potentially quite influential in selecting the Democratic Presidential candidate.

It's a wide field with lots of considerations, along with the primary consideration: Can they beat Donald Trump (assuming he is still in office and is still running for re-election ). So I thought I'd open up this thread to discuss the field and the considerations.

It's bound to be an exciting season of news, but this thread isn't for the latest news, but rather it's for what you're thinking about the news and generally how your thinking is evolving and why. You're welcome to post to a link to an important story that might have been overlooked, but please include your comments about it.

First, a bit of news, that you may not have seen in full: Kristen Gilibrand's announcement video. I think it is well done. What catches my eye is how directly it call's out Trump's fear-mongering. Pointing it out as such will hopefully help some people realize that they are being manipulated, a choose to be "brave" instead.

I suppose she would call it "brave" to call it brave for Franken to resign.I'm still pissed about that!

I was underwhelmed by Beto's video announcement and campaign so far. I knew his hands would be an issue immediately, through his passion did come through. I really liked his line of " maximum peril and maximum potential" but mostly its been a bunch of happy talk, since. I want to hear what he is going to do. Even though he is 46, generally he's coming off as an eager college student compared to the other candidates. Even the 37 y/o Buttigieg who brings surprising (if practiced and polished) gravitas.

I think climate change is the most important issue, so I was encouraged when Jay Inslee got into the race and is unequivocally making it his top issue. However, I haven't found him that compelling as a messenger so far. I look forward to him revealing his plan to combat climate change in the coming weeks. I hope the other candidates give his plan a fair review and embrace portions they can agree with, including crediting Inslee. In general, I'm hoping all the candidates will borrow policies of some of the other candidates so they can each bring the strongest portfolio and the have the eventual winner be the strongest of them all!

So what's important to you? Who do you like and why? Would you consider supporting a straight white male?

Re: The 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates considered

Warning: this is long and yes, I know I’m cynical. I’m 66 years old and have seen a lot and it ain’t pretty.

I’m not ready to make any kind of decision about who to support, but I do have some opinions about some of the candidates.

I’m impressed by Pete Buttigieg from Indiana too. He’s grounded and has experience governing; seems to be serious and thoughtful. I’ve seen a couple of interviews with him and I’d like to hear details about what he thinks is important, what he supports, and what he refuses to do.

Bernie is getting lots of attention and money, although Beto out fundraised him this past weekend, but I’m not thrilled about either one, truthfully. I like a lot of Bernie’s ideas; he’s just too curmudgeonly for me. A lot of statecraft, especially with foreign leaders & functionaries, is about flexibility, charm, & grace, backing it up with strong. boundaries. Obama had tons of the first three, not so much the boundaries, but was unable to get his own Congress to support him because the GOP had lost its mind and moral center. Remember when Republicans had a moral center? Hint: Eisenhower was president.

Beto is too green; comes across like a really over-eager college kid, even though he’s 46. He needs more experience & groundedness, like Buttigieg.

Gillibrand is a possibility, but she’s been corporate for a long time. She’s talking a good progressive game right now, but does she really mean it?

Booker & Harris are both appealing black candidates, but both have serious issues that could hold them back. For Booker, it’s his corporate, big donor support that influences him too much. For Harris, it’s her history as a prosecutor that had no problem going after other black folks & throwing the book at them. She’s also trying too damn hard to show she has street cred, which is pretty racist in and of itself. (Operating from the assumption that all black folks are of one mind and that mind is uneducated and un-intellectual and drug-addled). That interview with Charlemagne tha God was cringeworthy because of her talk about smoking weed and listening to Tupac. I just thought “uh uh.... oh hell no!” I just didn’t believe her and felt let down that she would try to appear more “Kamala from the Hood.” It was embarrassing. Plus... that weird laugh.....

That being said about these two; I would really like to see a non-white woman get the presidency. I want a woman; we are way past due for one. And we white people have fucked up everything in this country for so long. Yes, I know that Obama made huge mistakes too.

Warren is smart, has always been a consumer advocate, is passionate about getting the oligarch money out of politics. Plus she has government and leadership experience. She’s had her own mistakes around that whole “I’m part Cherokee” bullshit, thinking that that’s how First Nations people think about kinship; that it’s about blood and DNA. That was cringeworthy too.

I know that there are more candidates, but they don’t stand out for me. As far as Biden goes, please sit back down, Uncle Joe. You aren’t progressive enough and you’re an old white guy, like Bernie, but nowhere near as progressive as Sanders. Plus you have this rep for being “touchy-feely” and if it’s one thing Americans hate, it’s an affectionate old man. Personally, his sensitivity and willingness to touch people is something I like (Meghan McCain on the View, just before her dad died; Joe was very kind, supportive, and compassionate with her, even though she comes across like a hard-ass right wing nut job a lot of the time). And no, he isn’t some old lech or pedophile; there’s no history of anyone ever coming forward with viable accusations nor any history of pay-offs and NDAs. Just a bunch of wild conspiracies started by that lunatic Alex Jones & the wild-eyed, fruitcake haters on FOX.

Klobuchar sounds like a narcissist; she treats her employees like shit & won’t admit it, definitely won’t apologize for her verbal and physical abuse. She comes off as arrogant and entitled. We certainly don’t need another narcissist as president. We couldn’t survive it. I’m not sure we’re going to survive this one!

Whoever gets the Dem nomination will definitely get the massive right wing, white supremacist, hate machine focused on them for the duration. Like I said earlier, the GOP has lost their moral center. They are the party of hate and now they’re openly white supremacist (they’ve always been, but tried to hide it and the media & white Americans stayed in huge denial). They’re also the party of conspiracy theories (the crazier the better) and vicious cruelty and lies. They will do ANYTHING to win because that’s all that matters to them now. They are addicted to power over and the millions they get from the oligarchs.

If you ignore the Sociopath-in-Chief’s unhinged tweets, what we’ve seen over the last two years is the almost complete destruction of all the environmental protections that we spent the last 40 years progressively building. No, it was never enough because we’re arrogantly in denial about the damage we’re doing to the planet, all so we could have our gas-guzzling SUVs, Netflix, Amazon Prime, computers, too many clothes and toys and cell phones.

All the departments in the Cabinet have been decimated; smart, dedicated public servants have left in droves and the people that are left are corrupt; only in it for the money they can steal from taxpayers. They don’t know how to govern like rational adults and they don’t care to know. Like Representative Omar said, it’s all about the Benjamins.

The entire election season will be dominated by superficial bullshit about who wears a flag pin, what the female candidates wear, Bernie’s hair, Beto’s wild gesturing, Buttigieg’s sexual orientation, and any stupid, hateful nicknames Dump can come up with. He’ll encourage more violence towards people who don’t support him. He will also boldly lie and project all of his behavior onto Dems.

Don’t believe for a minute that he’s losing very many followers. On social media platforms there are huge numbers of right wing, white supremacist, “patriots,” militia members, Oath Keepers, extremist “Christians,” Second Amendment supporters, and “Ladies for Trump” groups who have swallowed the KoolAid. They believe everything he says, with fervor.

Last, but not least, this whole election trip is a farce anyway. The American people don’t get to pick who gets the nomination. It’s the .01% who do. And then they manipulate the Electoral College and suppress enough votes to get who they want in office. And now the Russians and Ukrainians flood social media with garbage so we Americans keep fighting each other. Exactly what all the oligarchs want, regardless of country of origin.